


Compensated Friendship

by MintHearted



Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: First Meetings, Friendship, Jumin was so extra even as a child I can't, V Route Spoilers, Young V is also extremely precious I love him!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-25
Updated: 2017-09-25
Packaged: 2019-01-05 11:05:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12188793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MintHearted/pseuds/MintHearted
Summary: During the beginning of Another Story there's a chatroom where V and Jumin talk about how they first met, so this is that story!





	Compensated Friendship

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly if it weren't for V I wouldn't have started playing Mystic Messenger back in February. He's honestly been my favorite ever since (he also means so much to me) and his friendship with Jumin gives me so much life! So after seeing how they actually first met I decided I wanted to write this/expand upon the idea since they only gave us the main details. I hope you enjoy!

It wasn’t surprising that Jihyun could be found playing all on his own with blocks scattered around the rug and a miniature toy car amongst the mess. Currently even a small snack of sliced apples sat to his right as he stacked another green square block onto one of the red rectangle ones. Making sure the blocks wouldn’t topple over he then reached for his snack to pop one of the slices into his tiny mouth.

Unfortunately for him he was left with his nanny once again who took to cleaning the kitchen as she prepared the dinner that would be eaten in a few hours. With his father out tending to his gallery and his mother in her room he was rather lonely. Even his sister, who was a few years older than he, was out with her friends. This left the house quiet besides the sounds of his chewing and the sink running in the kitchen.

Jihyun had gotten used to this pattern. Sometimes he wished his father would take him to the gallery more often allowing his wide blue eyes to settle onto the delicate paintings and sculptures on display, but unless it was a special occasion the chances of such a thing happening were fairly slim. If it wasn’t going to the gallery sometimes he wondered about his mother, but his father and professor said nothing good about her. Still he longed to speak to her. Everyone else had mothers that they could talk to so why couldn’t he talk to his? The mere thought of it would make him jut out his lower lip into a pout as he played with his fingers.

Swallowing the slice of apple he reached out for one of the cone shaped blocks before standing up to get a better view at the little tower that he had created. Feeling satisfied with its structure he leaned in to put the next block on, but before he could a loud crash sounded from the side of the house causing his tiny frame to jump from shock. With the block slipping from his hand it collapsed onto the floor threatening to knock over the tower, but Jihyun paid it no mind in favor of turning his head towards the sound. His eyes went wide as he sent a quick glance towards the kitchen, in which his nanny seemed much to occupied to have even heard the sound, and then in the direction of the front door.

Just what had caused that sound?

Despite knowing he shouldn’t go outside right now, per orders from his nanny to not be out of her sight, he headed over towards the door to open it. Peeking his head out he looked left and right only to see nothing in sight causing him to step outside for a better look. Blue brows began to push themselves together out of concern and a bit of fear as his feet crunched the grass below. Cautiously rounding the corner he finally saw the cause of the loud noise.

Just by the wall a boy about his age could be seen standing right beside a car, well not one for adults because it was much to small from them, but the sight of it was still strange. The dark haired boy even had a phone pressed to his ear and the way he spoke into the device was rather startling. This boy surely seemed to be around Jihyun’s age but his mannerisms were obviously different.

“I need to talk about the insurance for my car. I’ve just crashed it.” There was a pause as the boy’s brow furrowed. “Of course it wasn’t my fault. The steering wheel must’ve malfunctioned.”

Blinking in confusion Jihyun took a slow step to get closer to the boy. Upon closer observation he recognized that clean cut black hair and the suit that he wore, but for the life of him Jihyun couldn’t remember his actual name.

“Ex-excuse me?” Jihyun squeaked out as he got closer to the accident. Bright blues trailed their attention to the now dented wall, to the car that looked far to expensive, and then back to the stranger. It took a second for the other’s attention to shift towards him, but once it did a nervous shiver rushed down Jihyun’s spine. Never had he seen a boy his age look at him so sternly. Still, he knew he had to speak. There was no running back inside to his nanny or to hide under his bed, so he settled for forcing out his voice despite the strain. “What’re you doing?”

At first the boy just stared at Jihyun emotionlessly. Did he think Jihyun was dumb for asking such a question? It was reasonable after all considering the situation was fairly obvious, but it wasn’t like he experienced something like this every day. Most people didn’t just drive a car into the side of your house without a reason. So there he stood, picking at the sleeve of his shirt as he waited for the other to speak.

“I’m calling the insurance company.” The words came out of the boys mouth so naturally like it wasn’t a big deal at all. It actually shocked Jihyun that the other was remaining so calm about this while on the inside it felt like butterflies were attacking his own stomach from his nerves.

In all honesty it wasn’t that he was scared of this boy, but it wasn’t like he had many friends or interaction with others his own age before. In a way it was rather exciting but the way this boy was acting was so different from what he knew so he felt it best to tread lightly.

“The insurance company?” Jihyun’s voice finally found a bit of its strength as he tried to decipher just what this person had said. He’s heard the word tossed around a few times, but that was only by grownups so he wasn’t sure what the other was doing.

“Yes. My car has been crashed into this house so I need insurance to take care of it.” Once again the words were too smooth coming from someone so young and it startled Jihyun again. This boy was so strange. Most wanted to play and he was worrying about grownup stuff?

“Oh…um…okay.” Now Jihyun’s rocking back and forth on his feet trying to think of something else to say, but the other boy seems to be quick as his attention gets turned back to him.

“I’m guessing I should give you some sort of compensation.”

“Compen—compensa—what?” If Jihyun wasn’t already somewhat confused then he surely was now. Just what in the world was a compensation?

“My father can pay you money for the damages done to your house.” The boy shrugged his shoulders as he spoke as if it wasn’t a big deal. “I’ll just contact him after I get off the phone with the insurance company.”

At this point Jihyun has no idea if this boy is being serious or not. He was so young and acting like a grownup using such strange words and worrying about something like money. Sure, Jihyun has had his hands on a bit of money before but he wasn’t so confident about it like this stranger. The way the other carried himself compared to how Jihyun was, was just so strange. Even the other children at the church and preschool never acted like this except…wait. This was his next door neighbor, Jumin, right? The boy that would over analyze anything he did till it was practically perfect. He was a strange child compared to the rest, though Jihyun couldn’t say that he himself was much different. Not that he strove for perfection like Jumin but that he just wasn’t one that fit in so easily.

“Alright, I’m going to call my father.” Jumin huffed as he began to dial a different number, and before Jihyun could think much more about it he lunged to grab the phone preventing the other from calling anyone else.

“No! No money! I don’t need compen…com…whatever that thing is.” Jihyun’s voice had taken on a bit more of a desperate edge, one that he hadn’t known he was capable of. He had always been such a quiet boy keeping to his own space that the words that tumbled out of his mouth were practically foreign and yet that didn’t stop him. “I don’t want money.”

At this Jumin’s expression was quite shocked as well with eyes blown wide and his mouth partially hanging open. Never had Jihyun seen such a reaction from the boy and in any other situation it might have been interesting, but right now all of his focus was elsewhere.

“Why not?” Jumin’s voice wasn’t accusing, but more curious. “Money will be able to fix the problem so you won’t even know that it happened.”

It seemed that Jihyun was stumped now. It wasn’t like he’d thought this through before he had acted upon whatever drove him forward, but he was here now so he might as well dig out his true intentions. The idea of taking money from the other boy wasn’t appealing as his family had their own money. The Kim’s may have not been as rich as the Han’s but they were still somewhat wealthy between his father’s career and the fact that mother used to be a violinist. So what was it then? What caused him to act so irrationally when this matter could’ve been dealt with in mere seconds to get him back inside where his blocks sat? Then it hit him causing Jihyun to release the device as well as the boys hands from his grasp to take a step back.

Eyes had averted themselves to the ground at his feet as he chewed away at his bottom lip. Just how could he phrase this? Taking a deep breath to try and shove back his endless nerves he lifted his gaze just enough to peer up at Jumin from beneath his lashes.

“Come play with me.”

“Huh?” Pure confusion crossed Jumin’s face at Jihyun’s words, enough so that it eased a bit of the tension because it was quite obvious by this point that the rich boy hadn’t been offered such a thing before.

“I wanna play.” Trying to hold his ground he made sure to stand up a bit taller. He didn’t want whatever this compensation was, but he did want someone to hang out with. He was lonely after all. “I have some toys inside we can play with.”

With several rapid blinks to try and sort out his thoughts, Jumin was utterly speechless for several moments. He wasn’t sure how to take this as the words were demanding, yet they weren’t harsh. It was almost like a kitten trying to get itself onto your lap for a nap as they would nudge your hand and purr. If anything it was more inviting, and that meant something to Jumin as it was rare that he’d ever be thrilled about such an activity.

Slowly Jumin began to shove the phone into his pocket as small fingers began to play with his cufflinks out of nervous habit. “I guess I have time to partake in this play. I might even have some things at my house that might gain your interest.”

Those two sentences were all it took for Jihyun’s face to brighten like the sun causing him to bounce up and down on his feet. He wasn’t sure he’d ever talk to Jumin and now that he had a chance he was excited! Jumin was the kind of kid that didn’t get involved in playing with other children his age, so the fact that he would allow this had Jihyun wanting to make the most of it.

“Yay! I’m gonna go tell my nanny real quick!” Without waiting for a response from Jumin, Jihyun had run inside immediately in search of the nanny in question.

 

_________________________________

 

“Master Jihyun?!” Her searching was frantic. Hands were opening up every cabinet in the kitchen, searching under every couch cushion, knocking on every room door (save for Mrs. Kim’s), and every little nook and cranny she could find. Just where had that child gone off to?

If something happened to little Jihyun her job would surely be on the line! Nothing could happen to him on her watch, and the mere thought of something happening had her heart thudding loudly in her chest. Of course she valued her job but she also didn’t want to see the child get hurt. So all she could do was search with an occasional check on the dinner that she was preparing to keep it from burning.

Just as she was about to rush outside, the front door swung open with Jihyun bouncing gleefully over the threshold. The sight sent a wave of relief through the nanny, but after that followed disappointment. She knew the child to be a good listener so what could’ve prompted him to go outside like that especially without her knowledge?

“Master Jihyun, what did I tell you about going outside without me? You could’ve been kidnapped!” The nanny exclaimed as she ran over to wrap up the small boy into her arms.

“But I wasn’t! I heard this crash outside so I went outside and made a friend!” If the circumstances were different that statement would’ve been endearing, she would’ve been proud, but what sane person makes a friend with someone fresh out of a crash? She should really monitor him more, though she was pleasantly surprised as he kept speaking.

“I’m going to play with Jumin!” As if on cue the other boy in question walked into the home with dark eyes searching his surroundings to take it all in.

Ahh, young Master Han. Well to her that was a lot better than the image of some creepy guy covered in blood befriending the young child.

“Oh! Would Master Jumin like a snack then?” The nanny released Jihyun from her grip just to get a toothy smile from the blue haired boy in response.

“No, we’re just gonna go play! Come on Jumin!” Without any hesitation he reached out to the other boy to grab his hand towing him in the direction of his room.

 

_________________________________

 

Hours had passed in what only seemed like minutes to the boys. Their laughter filling the space of Jihyun’s room was cheerful. Never had either of them laughed so much as they sat happily on the floor with a book spread open across both of their laps. It wasn’t a book that Jihyun would normally read, but with Jumin it was enjoyable. If Jihyun could will this moment to last forever he would.

“You know, I’ve never really had someone to do this with.” Jihyun admitted quietly after their laughter died down. The smell of an almost ready dinner wafted into the room, but he was to distracted by his newfound friend.

“Me either.” Jumin responded back gently, a smile on his face. “I’ve seen you with the other kids at school, but I never thought about it too much.”

“You always looked so lonely.” Rubbing the edge of the book with this thumb, Jihyun couldn’t help but feel sad for the boy beside him. Both of them didn’t really have anyone so the fact that they were beside each other now made the thought of it a bit better. “But now you won’t have to be anymore!”

Looking over towards Jihyun, Jumin continued to smile. Neither of them had thought that they’d meet someone like the other and get so close especially so quickly, but they wouldn’t complain either. It was comfortable being beside the other and they wouldn’t have it any other way.

Throwing his arms around Jumin, Jihyun let out another fit of laughter. “We’re gonna be best friends forever! We’ll never have to be alone again!”

And just as promised neither of them were alone ever again. Misfortunes would always come their way, but even in the dark times they knew who they could count on. 

Friendship was so much better than compensation.


End file.
